January Summary

Well, so I’ve said that out of all the season in which I’ve been active as a blogger, this one is the worst of them all. There’s not just a lack of new shows in this season, but there also were relatively few series that carried over from previous seasons. However, does that mean that there are only one or two worthwhile anime? Of course not. There still are tons of enjoyable series. Just not as many as usual.

#26 (new) – Omamori Himari – (3/10) – Oh god, this is just the worst. Ripping off just about every generic harem show under the sun, without any ounce of its own content, going for the cheapest and safest way possible, and then thinking it can get away with it. If you like these sorts of shows, then good for you. But I personally hope that shows like these aren’t going to become the norm for anime in the future. Dropped
#25 (new) – Ladies Versus Butlers – (3,5/10) – This is one of those shows of which you’d wonder: why isn’t it a hentai? The plot is just an excuse to show a lot of naked maids getting it on with the lead character. The acting is terrible, the scenario is ridiculously bad. Why try to make this into a TV-series when you can go all the way with the hentai format?
#24 (new) – Kaito Reinya – (4/10) – Cheap flash anime. Dropped
#23 (new) – Chu Bra – (6,5/10) – This show is the product of deranged minds. While I have to give this show points for creativity, I’m just not a fan of this show’s sense of humour. The characters were dull. Dropped.
#22 (new) – Dance in the Vampire Bund – (7/10) – At this point I’ve lost all my patience with Shinbo. Wake me up when he’s not trying to make way too many shows in too little time, creating six generic shows instead of one really good one. Dropped
#21 (new) – Seikon no Qwaser – (7,25/10) – So this obviously is not my kind of series, but at least I’m glad that it chose to not just go for cheap fanservice, but also tries to stuff in some sort of story. But with the kind of fanservice it has chosen for, there’s no way for me to take this thing seriously. Dropped.
#20 (17) – Hetalia Axis Power – (7,25/10) – Nothing much to say about this show for this month. Only one episode aired and it was boring.
#19 (new) – Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu – (7,5/10) – Fun for one episode, but I don’t see the potential for an entire series. Dropped.
#18 (13) – Anymaru Tantei Kiruminzoo – (7,5/10) – Bleh. This month has been a major step down for this series. The cases were repetitive, the characters were predictable and the charms it had in the first 13 episode seem lost now.
#17 (19) – Nodame Cantabile – (7,75/10) – Yeah, this is just as I feared. The creators are putting too much emphasis on Nodame’s quirks and the charms and spirit of the first season seems completely lost at this point. Right now, this series is just another average romantic comedy, and there are plenty of funnier series in this season.
#16 (new) – Ookami Kakushi – (7,75/10) – The mystery and screenplay in this series are very good. But throughout this, it seems to be forgetting one important thing: the characterization! The characters have hardly made any advances through the past four episodes, they’re still the same caricatures that they were at their introduction. I don’t feel like we’ve gotten to know ANY of them better.
#15 (19) – Kimi ni Todoke – (7,75/10) – So this month showed the big climax for the Kurumi-arc. And I have to admit that the drama worked sort-of, but at the same time the creators were just stretching it on for waaay too long.
#14 (new) – Hanamaru Yochien – (7,75/10) – The big flaw of this show is the female love interest. She’s just another carbon-copy of tens of thousands other clueless romantic interests. The rest of the cast however is interesting enough to make this an enjoyable enough slice of life series.
#13 (new) – Cobra the Animation – (7,75/10) – Yeah, very much a guilty pleasure. The plot can be ridiculously stupid at times, but it has the single best soundtrack of the season for me. Plus, I have to applaud the creativity of the creators, and how they’ve managed to throw in quite a bit of neat ideas for Cobra to run into. The visual direction is also very good and overall it’s entertainment… but you don’t want to watch it with a straight face.
#12 (new) – Katanagatari – (8/10) – I really like the deadpan execution of the seemingly endless dialogues in this series. This show has subtle wit, the characters have their charms an the graphics looked fresh and pleasing to the eye. It’s not anything deep, but it knows how to make fun of itself and yet carryon with a serious story.
#11 (16) – Kaidan Restaurant – (8/10) – Long hiatus is looooong, but surprisingly, I’ve been looking forward to this show’s return. Here’s something I did not see coming, but I’m still very much enjoying this series’ bite-size chunks of horror (pun sort-of intended).
#10 (10) – Tentai Senshi Sunred – (8,25/10)

We’re past forty episodes and this series still is able to consistently raise laughs. I’m glad that this sequel was made with plenty of inspiration in mind.

#9 (new) – Gag Manga Biyori + – (8,25/10)

It has the same bizarre sense of humour as the first season, and I’m enjoying this series a lot. The pacing has to be among the fastest I have ever seen. Just one thing: was I the only one who had a bit of a deja vu moment at episode 4?

#8 (14) – Letter Bee – (8,25/10)

In this month, this series has won me over. The fillers are just as good, if not better at times, than the manga-material, and even though this series is episodic, it makes very well use of its formula.

#7 (new) – Sora no Oto – (8,25/10)

While it has its flaws and a bit of an idiotic lead character, I’ve found a lot to like about this series so far. The characters start out a bit one-sided, but the past four episodes have already given them much more depth than I could have expected. The real gem in this series is the setting, though. It’s a true mystery of where this series is playing, and the creators put in tons of little details to make us guess and wonder what’s going on at the background of this series.

#6 (15) – Kobato – (8,5/10)

In this month, Kobato really grew on me. The build-up has worked, and it’s no longer that moderately enjoyable series, but Kobato has become a wonderful character to watch, and the side-characters all have their charms, despite the simple storyline.

#5 (9) – Marie&Gali – (8,75/10)

Marie&Gali has possibly become even better this month now that it removed one of its very few weaknesses. It’s true that Marika once was a bit of a Mary Sue, but even that is completely gone with the past few episodes, in which she has crawled completely out of her shell. And really: it’s still an over the top fun-filled science adventure that sparkles with creativity.

#4 (6) – Cross Game – (8,75/10)

This show still manages to deliver incredibly charming and witty slice of life. The characters have really grown to me at this point, and they’re just consistently enjoyable to watch.

#3 (new) – Durarara – (8,75/10)

Out of the newly debuted series, this is without a doubt my favourite. A terrific style, every episode so far had a different style of storytelling, it’s varied, the characters are charming, the dialogue is well written and the scenario is very cleverly constructed. I’m very much looking forward to more of this, especially considering it’s going to be 24 episodes long.

#2 (5) – Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – (9/10)

This series just keeps getting better and better now. The back-story just continues to get fleshed out, and the huge cast just gets more and more complete with every episode. Bones’ animation as done a wonderful job so far and I’m getting more and more excited with this series.

#1 (2) – Armed Librarians – The Book of Bantorra – (9,25/10)

This season, I have no doubts whatsoever in choosing my favourite show: this one. It just continues to weave all sorts of fascinating storylines into one and it does so with an incredible amount of creativity. The direction is so powerful that it makes a treat out of every single episode.